Valve head for by-pass packers



H. E. LYNN VALVE HEAD FOR BYPASS PACKERS Filed Oct. 28, 1944 4 a ,.w MU f. 1MM @M Ae H. mw B a 2 E, 23 /wyf 2&5/

Dec. 13, `1 949 Patented Dec. 13, 1949 U NITED STAT ES 0F-FICE.

2,491,122 VALVE HEA'DFOR BY-PASS .PACKERS HarryE. Lynn, Monterey Park,fCaliffassgnorito `M. y0. Johnston Oil Field Service iorporation, los Angeles, .Calif'.,.a;c0rporation of (lalifinfniat Application October 28, 19.4.4, SelNo.f60,"8B3

4 Claims.

lThis invention relates to oil well tools and-particularly pertains to a valve head'orbypass packers.

When packers 'are run into a well bore, lparticularly in instances Vwhere a casing has been set within the well, it has been found that the 'limited 'clearance between the circumference of 'the packer and the casing creates a relatively .small area around'thepacker'thrcugh which well Vfluidmay"bypass as it :isfdisplaced by the down- W'ardly moving packer and other equipment attached thereto, such for V'example as an oil -well testing tool. *'It has-:beenfoun'd desirable, therefore, Ato create a central-'passageway through the packer "of adequatef'areatoallow the fluid to by- (Cl. IE6-12) 'pass and to `thereby permit the well packer to v loelowered rapidly into the well and through the 'iluids vwith which the well is filled. In these Ioperations it is desirable to provide a bypass structure whifchis compact in construction and has sufficient strengthito holdall of'the parts in their assembled position, and to make it possible to readily `replace'these parts inthe event of laccidental breakage or abrasion. It is the principal object ci the present invention, therefore, to provide 'a bypass packerhead which is decidedlysimple in construction, has great strength, and lmay be readily installed and-replaced.

The `present invention contemplates the provision'of a packer mandrel upon which a ltappet valve structure is lxed, and which mandrel is fitted `with a sub and alock member tending to hold the mandrel and the valve element seourely together and permitting these elements to be 'easily vassembled Vand dismantled 'when desired.

The invention is illustratedby'way of examplein-the accompanying drawings'in which:

AFigure 1 is `an enlarged view'inlongitudinal section and elevation showing afragmentary portion of a bypass packer and the mandrel and valve structure embodying-the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a viewin transverse section through the mandrel and valve'structure'as seen on the line 2--2 'of Fig. l.

Referring more particularly tolthe drawings, i0 indicates thenpperend iofaloypass packer, said packer including an expandible packing ele- Iment'll, a sleeve l2 upon which it is mounted, and-a tapered val-veseat-I-S at the top of said sleeve., LA. web lli extends Atransversely -of the sleeve I2 and is vformed'integraltherewith, said web having uid circulating ports l5 therethrough. The web I4 has a central opening I6 therethrough to receive a tubular packer mandrel l1 kwhich is associated with conventional types 2 of bypass packer'fstruetures and may loe tempo'- jrarily locked "against'imovement relative-,to 4:the "sleeve lf2'. The locking mechanism isi-notie, part of the kpresent invention. The tubular mandrel il is here `shown'as'lraving'a centrallongitud'rnal 'flow passageway '.I- through it'and is shown as having an .upper 'length o'f vreduced diameter forming an outer cylindrical wall surface 19. 'The main Iloody of the .mandrel l1 has .a ,wallssurfa-ce of larger diameter, Yas,indicated at 20, andata;- `pered .wall .surface '.ZI occurs between these 'two lengths of mandrel. '.The'surfacelZl tapers .wardly 'andl inwardlyand forms a frusto-conicl, .section .which represents `a :relatively 4vsmall degree of .taper. Ihisprovides a limiting face on y.the mandrel. The :reduced length of themandrel 1H defined :by-.the wall; lelextends through va, .bore 512 formed centrally or fa valvehead 23. The valve' head 23 iseylindricalfandfofa wall thicknes' suf,- cient that it accommodates a tapered valvegface 2 4 :at fthe lower fend. zthereof. The upper end:` of the valvefhead; 23;;has a reduced cylindrical portion. 2-5iwhich isexternally threaded, as. indicated at 126., :and engages :the threaded bore 2l mythe' lowerzend-zofa.sub1-28. `Within the s111328 and Vforming afcontinuation of' the threaded bore 5:21 is La smooth :bore section 29A which lcommunicates with arreduced-bore3-- in'said sub. Thebore :30j

communicates iwith .ia .threaded .tapered -bore 3i formed :Within the :upper box section of .thesub '28. ApinrlZof a drillstri-ngfsection 33 is screwed into ltheafbore 3| andiormsa supporting con-L. nection for theipacker with'rela'tion to the string of pipe `upon vwhi-chj'itislowered into the well.

:The mandrelal'laarrdcvalvehead 23 are held inv their assembledzrelationby a nut 34awhichfhasia centralV threaded :bore 35 `through which vthe upperzthreadedfportion 36 of ,the'mandrel I1 'exe tends. a downwardly tapered lfrusto-conical face 31 :which yseats uponag-.tapered seat. 38 formed' atgthe upper end i'of-'theivalve head 23 and -withinythe endfof-the.bore-22. rI tgwill he seenthat when the z-rrusto-con-ical[facev 31 engages ,the seat y38, and the nut 34:15 :tightened'it will drawtheta.` peredtace-.2V l .ofthe mandrel, intothetaperedend bore 22 of the valve head so that the valve. head 2 3 will lbef rmiy. held .against longitudinal fmovement-upon-tlie mandrel. The valve head 23-is held against rotational movement onthe mandrei `ioy keys 39, which are positioned within keyways 4 0 lfor-med.: longitudinally of f the Iloore'f22A of the valve head 23 and keyways 4| formed longitudinally of the outer surface of the mandrel The lowereendface of the nutf34rorms Attention should be called to the fact that in normal practice a sub similar to the upper por- .tion of the sub 28 is used, and that a tubular mandrel comparable to the mandrel l1 is directly threaded into the lower end of this sub, the result being that the portion of mandrel occurring rbetween the upper end of the packer l and the lower end of the sub is decidedly weak and may be damaged due to longitudinal and torsional strains imposed upon it. Furthermore, it will be seen that the connection between the upper end of such a threaded mandrel and the lower end 0f a sub as employed in usual practice is represented by a threaded section of relatively small diameter so that there is a danger that the threads `will be injured or that the tubular mandrel might .become loose. With the present structure the connection between the sub and the packer is represented by the threads 26 and 21 occurring on the sub and valve head n respectively. This threaded section is of large diameter and the walls carrying the threads are '-both of considerable thickness to provide the necessary strength. At the same time it will be noted that the nut 34 lwhich directly engages the upper end of the tubular mandrel merely acts to hold the various members in assembled relation and is not subjected to the lateral strain or torsion such as is adequately resisted by the assembled valve head 23 and sub 28.

" In operation of the present invention the valve head 23 is mounted upon the upper extending portion of the mandrel I1 with its keys 39 in position. In Fig. 2 of the drawing three keys are shown as being used. This equalizes the strain although it will be understood that any number might be used. After the valve head 23 has been forced down so that its tapered bore 22' rests upon the tapered face2l of the mandrel the nut 34 is tightened. This tends to pull the tapered portion 2l tightly into the seat 22 and also to force the frusto-conical face portion 31 of the nut down onto the seat 38. This provides a double seal between the mandrel l1 and the valve head 23 and with the aid of the keys 39 provides a rigid substantial connection between the valve head and mandrel structure. The lower box section of the sub 28 is then screwed onto the portion of the valve head and tightened down against the shoulder 42 on the valve head. The structure is then in its assembled position and may be attached to the pin 32 of the supporting string when desired.

It will thus be seen that by the structure here disclosed a valve head assembly for bypass packers and the like is provided which has great strength, may be easily assembled and dismantled, and will provide a connection between a supporting string of pipe and a packer which is not liable to break or become distorted.

While I have shown the preferred form of my invention as now known to me, it will be understood that various changes may be made in combination, construction and arrangement of parts by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A valve for bypass packers or the like, comprising a tubular valve head, a mandrel extendlng through said head, means on the mandrel engaging one end of the head limiting movement of the head with respect to the mandrel in one direction, a nut on the mandrel engaging the opposite end of said head limiting movement of the head with respect to the mandrel in the opposite direction, and a sub secured to said head independently of said mandrel for securing said valve to a drill string.

2. A valve for bypass packers or the like, comprising a valve head having a central bore therethrough, a tubular mandrel extending through said head, cooperating tapers on said mandrel and one end of said head limiting downward movement of said head with respect to said mandrel, a nut on the mandrel engaging the opposite end of said head to limit upward movement of said head with respect to said mandrel and to secure the mandrel and head in xed relation, a sub threadedly engaging said head eX- ternally of said nut and independently of said mandrel, said sub including means for securing said valve to a drill string.

3. A structure as set forth in claim 2 including means for holding the valve head and mandrel against relative rotation.

4. A valve for bypass packers and the like, which packers are formed with a seat providing a bypass opening through the packer; comprising a tubular mandrel extending centrally of the packel through which mandrel iluid may ilow, said mandrel having a lower length of larger outer diameter and an upper length of lesser outer diameter, a relatively long tapered shoulder occurring between said two lengths of said mandrel, a threaded portion at the upper end of the mandrel length of lesser diameter, a valve head formed with a central bore through which said upper length of mandrel extends and with which it fits, said valve head at its lower end being formed with a tapered valve face adapted to rest upon a complementary tapered valve seat of the packer and an upper threaded end of a lesser diameter than the outer diameter of the valve head, a tapered counterbore formed at the lower end of the valve head to rest against the tapered shoulder of the mandrel, a. tapered counterbore at the upper end of the valve head to provide a sealing seat, a threaded nut mounted upon the upper threaded end of the mandrel, a tapered sealing seat at the lower end of the nut adapted to rest against the sealing seat of the valve head, keys between the mandrel and the valve head preventing relative rotation of said members, a tubular sub having a downwardly prel sented threaded box receiving the upper threaded end of the valve head and accommodating the nut on the mandrel, and a threaded connection at the upper end of said sub for receiving a complementary end of pipe section.

HARRY E. LYNN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

